The two walked out from the back door of the company building, striding down a path for a some time, until they reached a small, familiar shed. Inside of the open garage, there was a parked formations construction. With one glance, Emmet recognized it. “Is that…”
“Yup, a flying Gigorian-style vehicle. The very same you saw when we first met,” Maisy explained. “Aside from some upgrades, of course. I figured we could take a nice flight, just like old times.”
Emmet immediately assented.
The two crawled into the car and strapped in. Within moments, the vehicle lit up in a rainbow radiance, and a moment later, they lifted off from the ground into the sky.
“Phew…”
Emmet looked over the side of the railing and peered down at the rapidly shrinking ground beneath them. Soon enough, the people walking amongst the streets had turned into little ants, and the buildings turned into little models that the ants walked in and out of. The wind blew noisily around him, and both their hairs fluttered wildly in the breeze.
It was beautiful. In the night landscape, only lights from the formation streetlamps and windows could be seen, creating an amazing dotted portrait.
“How has the Gemini Academy been so far?” Maisy asked.
“...the academy…?” Emmet stilled for a moment, and then smiled. “Thanks to you, it’s been amazing.”
Maisy glanced toward Emmet and gave a knowing smile, reaching over once again to pat his head.
After that, they didn’t speak - silently, they just stared forward out into the dark night sky. However, it wasn’t awkward. Standing in peaceful silence, they felt comfortable - there was no pressure to talk, they just enjoyed each other’s company.
As Emmet alternated his gaze down toward the ground underneath and then back up toward the stoically stanced Maisy operating the vehicle beside him, he couldn’t help but reminisce on his time at the school so far. It had seemed just like yesterday when he first arrived, a young starry-eyed little farmer boy who had just come to learn about puzzles. Two years later… had he changed?
His eyes turned assured. Yes, he had changed, he knew he had. In terms of pure knowledge, two years ago, he had not known even a hundredth of what he knew today. But more importantly, he felt he had grown mentally. No longer did the towering skyscrapers scare him, nor the bright formations, nor the fancily dressed people. Even as he stared at them head on, he wouldn’t falter.
And Maisy… Emmet glanced silently toward her, admiring her long jet-black hair and headstrong demeanor. She was the one who had allowed him to experience this change. Without her, these two years, he doubted he would have had such a drastic advancement, if at all.
The flying vehicle slowed and then began to descend down toward the front of a familiar admissions office - it was the same one Emmet frequently visited to check his points, located on the western side of campus. His face turned curious. “Where are we going?”
“I have to make a points transfer,” Maisy’s face was mischievous for some reason. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” Emmet nodded. “I’m glad to accompany you.” Thinking about it, Emmet realized that over the years, Maisy must have had to deal with a lot of financial management responsibilities, considering how she now ran two businesses - not only her debugging business, but now her roller coaster attraction. As she now had authority over almost a hundred employees, it must have been demanding to keep up with.
The vehicle landed softly on the walk in front of the large admissions office building and slowly powered off.
“What do you think about work, Emmet?” Maisy suddenly asked. “About my debugging depot.”
Emmet blinked twice, not understanding. “You know I love work more than anything, Maisy.”
“You can’t get enough of it? You want more?” Maisy further prodded.
“Ah… yes,” Emmet admitted. If it were up to him, he would probably spend half his day working at the depot, debugging formations and engaging in studies. The space was just plain comfortable - any time Emmet clocked in for work, he felt at home.
“That’s good then,” Maisy said mysteriously, before taking Emmet’s hand and walking toward the entrance of the admissions office.
The two walked through the door, and peering in, Emmet’s face once again brightened. Borokov was at the front desk! The two immediately waved toward each other, and Emmet excitedly led Maisy toward his desk.
“Borokov! How have you been?” Emmet smiled widely.
“Haha, better than ever!” Borokov cracked a laugh. “I’m making the most of my final year.”
Emmet nodded with a slight smile. The two had talked about it - Borokov didn’t have high hopes of passing the assessment past this year, his fourth year. However, he didn’t mind at all. On the contrary, he couldn’t wait to return home - he wasn’t too interested in high level formations theory, anyway. If he could just get a good enough job to start saving up enough to get his dream car, he was satisfied.
“Um, Borokov, this is Maisy,” Emmet gestured toward Maisy.
“I know,” Borokov nodded, smiling slightly as he glanced toward her. “Who doesn’t know Maisy Harbinger? Nice to meet you, Maisy. I’m Borokov.” He extended a hand.
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Maisy smiled back and accepted his shake. “Nice to meet you too, Borokov. Thanks for taking care of Emmet.” She glanced toward the large scanning machine to the side of the desk. “I need to make a points transfer, so do you think I could do that here?”
“Sure,” Borokov agreed. “What’s the transfer?”
Maisy reached into her pocket and pulled out her student ID card, which at this point looked a bit faded - clearly, it had been used a lot. “Could you please make a points transfer...” She paused. “Let’s say, of a million points. Could you transfer it...”
She turned toward Emmet and gestured, clearly asking for his card. Puzzled, Emmet took his card out and handed it to Maisy.
“...to this card?” Maisy held up Emmet’s unimpressive silver ID card. “Can that be done?”
“Wha?” Emmet turned toward Maisy and gawked, his eyes widening like saucers. “M… M-Maisy… wh… what…”
He wasn’t the only one. Borokov also stared at Maisy a bit incredulously and involuntarily gulped. “Ah… um, yeah. We can do that...”
Borokov reached out and accepted Maisy and Emmet’s cards, his hands shaking. He slowly brought Maisy’s card to his scanning machine. A moment later, his face turned pale.
Sure enough, the total balance on the card had two commas, and then some...
“A-A million points?” Borokov stuttered out in question.
“Yeah,” Maisy nodded.
“Alright… yes, that can be done. I need both of your mana signatures…” Borokov’s face was stiff.
Maisy casually extended out her hand toward the machine, but Emmet merely stood there, his face blank. What was going on?
“Maisy, how can… what are you?” Emmet’s stuttering voice let out.
“You said you like work, didn’t you?” Maisy teased. “Do you like it enough to take over? You know, fair warning, it’s quite a tedious job.”
Emmet merely stood there with glazed eyes. “T-take over… but... “
“Are you willing to?” Maisy asked again.
“Yes, of course!” Emmet started. “But… me… how can…”
“Ok, then to operate my businesses, you need funds. Let’s sign,” Maisy grabbed Emmet’s hand and lifted it up toward the mana signature device. Dazedly letting her do so, he performed the action, the two channeling their mana and inputting it into the device. A moment later, it rung with a successful sound.
“Um…” Borokov stood up a bit straighter, addressing the two people in front of him a bit more seriously. “The transfer is too large to go through all at once, so… 100,000 points will be transferred each week until the collective sum is delivered. Is that okay?”
Maisy nodded. “Thank you very much.”
“Of course,” Borokov finally smiled, glancing toward the stone-faced Emmet with pure wonder.
------------
It wasn’t until Maisy and Emmet were back up high in the air that Emmet came back to reality. He turned toward Maisy with panicked eyes.
“Maisy… you can’t! How can…”
“Do you think you can handle it?” Maisy asked calmly.
Emmet thought for a moment, and then nodded. “...Yes.”
“Then as long as you accept it, starting from next year, the Maisy Debugging Depot as well as my Mega Marvel ‘village’ are your businesses,” Maisy patted Emmet’s head. “Please take care of them.” She glanced amusedly toward Emmet’s flushed face. “Don’t worry, in this last month, I’ll make sure to extensively train you, so you’ll be prepared when it happens.”
“Yes...” Emmet hurriedly nodded. Obviously, he was ecstatic to take over Maisy’s businesses, but it was still really sudden. He couldn’t help but be incredulous of Maisy’s choice. She had entrusted them to him? A second year squire?
He couldn’t help but gulp. If this was what Maisy wished, he would spare no effort to maintain her businesses and make sure her legacy wasn’t ruined.
A long silence ensued, and the two stared out toward the horizon, where the line of bright formation lights stopped and darkness began. It provided a calming sensation, like the sensation of a calm sea breeze.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, there was a wave a turbulence in the air, and Emmet panickedly stumbled for a moment, causing him to flail around. Fearful of his life, he quickly leaned over and tightly embraced Maisy.
Feeling Emmet’s panicked grip, Maisy could only crack up, and after Emmet had recovered, the two looked at each other and once again began laughing heartedly.
“Remember the first time I met you?” Maisy laughed. “You were so scared that you hugged me tight the entire trip.”
“Oh, that’s right…” Emmet a bit embarrassedly remembered.
“That won’t happen anymore, huh?” Maisy teased.
Emmet thought for a moment. Suddenly, as if spurred by the moment, he turned and once again hugged Maisy across the waist, sinking his head deep into Maisy’s side as if wanting to be with her forever.
“...!” Maisy was at first surprised, but a moment later, her eyes turned soft. Letting out a soft sigh, she embraced him in return, patting his head reassuringly.
The two landed down in front of the 3C dorm, a familiar sight for both of them at this point. Since it was late, there weren’t too many people walking around, just a few late night dwellers.
The two stepped out of the vehicle, and Maisy casually brought out a little light blue pendant necklace from her pocket. It was a cute little thing, a set of two angel wings connected by a little blue ball, dimly glowing within the darkness. She extended it over toward Emmet. “For you.”
“Huh?” Emmet’s face couldn’t help but turn red. “For… for me?”
“They’re wings,” Maisy laughed, reaching over and placing the necklace over his head. “Look, I’m placing them on you.” She stepped back to admire him for a moment, nodding in satisfaction. “Now, you can fly.”
“Wings…” Emmet was stunned.
“You like it?” Maisy asked.
“Yeah… I do,” Emmet nodded seriously, his face a bit red. He glanced down at the pendant, admiring its shape and color. “Thank you, big sis Maisy.”
“Hahaha... for my cute squire boy, it’s no problem,” Maisy gave a signature thumbs up.
The two shared another heartfelt glance, and then Maisy turned and got back into her flying formations vehicle. With a final wave, the vehicle soared up, and within a minute, she had disappeared in the distance, no longer visible with the naked eye.
“...”
Within the quiet environment of the night, Emmet couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional. He turned his gaze downward down the pendant lying across his chest. Wings… Maisy had granted him wings. With them, he could now fly up through the sky.
After a few moments of pondering, Emmet looked back up toward the night sky, bringing his gaze toward the moon directly overhead. In an empty black sky devoid of any other object, it was a centerpiece of the world, literally and figuratively - forever in the same place in the sky, it was always high up above the clouds.
A dimly lit celestial body, it provided only a thin cover of visibility for those down below without man-made illumination tools. However, when morning came, and the great rising crescent sun rotated back around, dawn would come. And it would be a new beginning.